It’s a fantastic time for Star Wars fans withJedi: Survivor, Andor, The Mandalorian, Ahsoka coming in August 2023, andall the exciting new movie announcements at the Star Wars Celebration. And now Ubisoft’s open-world Star Wars Outlaws game has been revealed with a trailer at the Xbox Showcase and ten minutes of new gameplay at the June Ubisoft Forward.
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The trailer and gameplay introduced us to a lot of unique characters, space battles and blaster combat, and some stunning new locations available for travel in the galaxy far, far away, but also many more exciting details that are outlined here.
10New Female Protagonist Kay Vess
The character you’ll be playing in Star Wars Outlaws is female scoundrel gunslinger Kay Vess. After two games as Galen Marek inForce Unleashedand Cal Kestis inFallen Orderand Survivor, it’s finally nice to see a new female character in the lead role. The last female Star Wars game protagonists were inSquadronsand Iden Versio inBattlefront 2, and it’s a refreshing new perspective rather than a Jedi.
The dialogue and characterization visible so far already shows Kay is witty, adventurous, and crafty. Her outlaw backstory is compelling, the story hopefully diving deeper into it and how she met characters Nix and ND-5.
9The Pyke Syndicate
Jedi: Fallen Order has ofteninfluenced animated and live-action Star Wars projects, but this is vice-versa. The Pykes are a humanoid alien species and criminal syndicate dealing in spice prominently featured in The Book of Boba Fett and in Solo and The Clone Wars series. Sticking to the Book of Boba Fett’s design, they’re distinguishable by their large black eyes, faces like Hellboy’s amphibious Abe Sapien with tentacle-like appendages near the mouth, and sometimes donning masks.
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The Pykes seem to play a big part in Kay’s adventure. The story trailer revealed an entire fleet of them entering a ship, a Pyke leader examining a valuable object, and the opening mission of the gameplay walkthrough has you steal an item from a Pyke facility. They’re also located on Tatooine, a location that’s already been teased.
8Jaylen And Companions Nix And ND-5
The initial story trailer teased some of Kay’s allies, and the gameplay provided much more detail on two of them. The only one you didn’t see more of in the new footage is Jaylen, an old acquaintance who organizes Kay’s criminal endeavors and a cross between Cobb Vanth and Lando Calrissian. It might even be his old ship that she has.
Your companions in the game will be Nix and a droid named ND-5. Nix is astoundingly adorable and already up there with some of the cutest creatures created in Star Wars canon. Often walking side by side with Kay or resting on her shoulder, this furry green-eyed axolotl is like a cat, BD-1, and Grogu combined in one.
ND-5 is Kay’s partner in crime and co-pilot of their ship. His droid model is a BX-commando, which debuted in The Clone Wars and was among the droid enemies in Jedi: Survivor. It’s clear he’s been through some conflicts with Jedi or Sith due to the gash on his chest exposing his wiring, and hopefully, more will be explored about ND-5’s past.
7Title Card And Wanted System UI
What immediately pops out is the UI design of the title cards for planets, as well as the end mission prompts. As you step off your speeder bike arriving in Jaunta’s Hope to see ND-5, a title card appears with the same font style and design as the box Star Wars logo for The Clone Wars and Empire Strikes Back. You see it again when you jump out of hyperspace in the Akiva System.
A mechanic seen in games likeMafia,Grand Theft Auto, andRed Dead Redemptionis the wanted system, and it returns to Star Wars Outlaws. With a game focused on the criminal underworld during the height of the Empire’s battle with the Rebel Alliance, it would only make sense. And when you’re wanted, the game lets you know by flashing the entire screen with transparent red lettering.
6Ship Hyperdrive And Dogfighting
Piloting a ship is just as essential to the gameplay as the lightsaber battles in Star Wars, and you’ll constantly be taking one for a ride during your journey. Star Wars films and gamesintroduced many captivating space vehicleslike the Millennium Falcon, Razor Crest, and the Stinger Mantis — Kay’s vessel is sure to join their ranks.
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The details of the spaceflight and combat are already looking quite impressive. You have a workbench aboard the ship, and the launch sequence into the atmosphere isn’t a cutscene. The dogfights seem like the usual target-lock system and dodge maneuvers but are also something that Fallen Order and Survivor lacked. The coolest part was initiating the ship’s hyperdrive and seeing those lines appear, which you can perform by interacting with the D-pad.
5New And Familiar Planets To Explore
Outlaws promises to be one of the first open-world Star Wars games, which means the entire galaxy is open season. Could it be to the scope ofStarfieldorNo Man’s Sky? We’ll have to wait and see. However, there were enough teases in the trailer and gameplay already about the new and old places you’ll be visiting.
The game will revolve around the Outer Rim, and one of the most familiar landscapes unveiled is the desert planet of Tatooine,though probably not that exciting to visit anymore. There also appears what might be the infamous gambling planet Canto Bight from The Last Jedi, and you witness gameplay cuts of Kay roaming new environments, including the intro planet Toshara.
4AT-ST And Other Canon Enemies
Some old faces were bound to show up during the reveal. Among the Pykes in the opening mission sequence, there was a Rodian (Greedo’s species) shooting at you, and you can also spot some Gamorreans hanging around in the cantina in the trailer. Imperial Stormtroopers also got a spotlight.
But then there are bigger enemies like the AT-ST, a recurring boss in Fallen Order and Survivor, approaching Kay on Tatooine. And then there’s the giant Rancor in a dungeon-type area, which may lead into the Jabba the Hutt storyline teased in the trailer. Boba Fett may even make another video game appearanceafter the cameo in Jedi: Survivor.
3Speeder Bike Bullet Time Chase
Another comparison that can be drawn to Red Dead Redemption comes in this scene where Kay is fleeing from the Pykes on a speeder bike. As two Pyke foes also pursue her on bikes, you can see her swiftly take them down with a bullet-time ability. It happens similarly to the dead eye system with a timer slowing down time, highlighting each enemy in red, and automatically firing to destroy their speeder bikes.
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It will be interesting to see how it works with filling up the meter to trigger the bullet-time mechanic, the special name for the skill in the game, and where the upgrades can take it.
2Blaster Combat, Upgrades, And Stealth
The initial chunk of gameplay demonstrates the combat and ways you may utilize Nix as a companion. For the stealth sections, you can crouch and perform silent takedowns on enemies while commanding Nix to attack or distract others. And almost like BD-1, you can send Nix to press a button to have an object come your way or to fetch an enemy rifle and health.
For ranged combat, Kay Vess fights with a sole blaster. She can change to more assault rifle-style blasters, but weapons may need a cooldown and can become empty. Kay’s blaster will receive upgrades for defeating different enemy types, such as switching from the regular module to “Focused” when breaching a shield enemy.
1Choice-Based Story Between Episodes 5 And 6
The gameplay and cinematic trailer do a terrific job of setting up the characters, mechanics, and wondrous settings without giving much of the story away. It’s confirmed the events take place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, even showing Han in Carbonite alongside Jabba the Hutt.
The villain still isn’t exactly clear, as there’s a brief glimpse of a Pyke leader, a menacing man with a fur cloak and beard, and a female Imperial Officer having secret dealings with criminal organizations. The story has choices you can make and focuses on Kay, ND-5, and Nix as they embark on a final big heist for Jaylen. It will lead them to places like Imperial cruisers and potentially plot points from the films.
NEXT:Starfield: New Details From The Gameplay Trailer And The Starfield Direct
